Using Polar Tracking

Using Polar Tracking
In this section, you’ll draw the first item in the bathroom: the toilet. It’s composed of a rectangle representing
the tank and a truncated ellipse representing the seat. To construct the toilet, you’ll use
Polar Tracking, which is one of the more versatile drafting tools. Polar Tracking helps you align
your cursor to exact horizontal and vertical angles, much like a T-square and triangle.
In this exercise, you’ll use Polar Tracking to draw a rectangular box:
1. Start your line at the coordinate 5´-7˝, 6´-3˝ by entering 5´7˝,6´3˝↵. Metric users should enter
171,189↵ as the starting coordinate. This starting point is somewhat arbitrary, but by entering
a specific starting location, you’re coordinated with the figures and instructions in this book.
2. Make sure Polar Tracking is on (the Polar button in the status bar should be in the on position),
and then point the cursor directly to the right of the last point. The Polar Tracking cursor
appears, along with the Polar Tracking readout.



3. With the cursor pointing directly to the right, enter 1´-10˝↵. Metric users should enter 56↵.
NOTE You can use the spacebar in place of the ↵ key when entering distances in this way.
4. Point the cursor downward, enter 0´-9˝↵, and click this point. Metric users should enter 23↵.
5. Continue drawing the other two sides of the rectangle by using Polar Tracking. After you’ve
completed the rectangle, press ↵ or the Esc key to exit the Line tool. You should have a drawing
that looks like Figure 3.2.



As you can see from the exercise, you can use Polar Tracking to restrain your cursor to horizontal
and vertical positions, just like a T-square and triangle. Later, you’ll learn how you can set up
Polar Tracking to set the angle to any value you want in a way similar to an adjustable triangle.
In some situations, you may find that you don’t want Polar Tracking on. You can turn it off by
clicking the Polar button in the status bar. You can also press the F10 function key to turn Polar
Tracking on or off.
Although this exercise tells you to use the Line tool to draw the tank, you can also use the Rectangle
tool. The Rectangle tool creates what is known as a polyline, which is a set of line or arc segments
that acts like a single object. You’ll learn more about polylines in Chapter 18.
By using the Snap modes in conjunction with the coordinate readout and Polar Tracking, you
can locate coordinates and measure distances as you draw lines. This is similar to the way you draw
when using a scale. The smallest distance registered by the coordinate readout and Polar Tracking
readout depends on the area you’ve displayed on your screen. For example, if you’re displaying an
area the size of a football field, the smallest distance you can indicate with your cursor may be 6˝
or 15 cm. On the other hand, if your view is enlarged to show an area of only one square inch or centimeter,
you can indicate distances as small as 1/1000 of an inch or centimeter by using your cursor.